Apparatus for fixing a dye in a textile material



Dec. 7, 1954 c Q-ERIKSON ETAL APPARATUS FOR FIXING A DYE IN A TEXTILE MATERIAL 2 Shee ts-Sheet 1 Original Filed Feb. :7, 1951 lilitktk titktilidd Li L.

Cam. OlOF' 'R/Rsou Dec. 7, 1954 c. o. ERIKSON ETAL 2,696,093

APPARATUS FOR FIXING A DYE IN A TEXTILE MATERIAL Original Filed Feb. 7, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2' ff g- 1.3-

. H ==i:@ titSlililili/itkik United States Patent APPARATUS FOR FIXING A DYE IN A TEXTILE MATERIAL Carl Olof Erikson and Nils Daniel Landquist, Rydboholm,

Sweden, assignors to Rydboholms Aktiebolag, Rydboholm, Sweden, a corporation of Sweden Original application February 7, 1951, Serial No. 209,762. Divided and this application January 12, 1952, Serial No. 268,432

Claims priority, application Sweden February 21, 1950 2 Qlaims. (Cl. 688) The present invention relates to an apparatus for dyeing textile materials, such as fabrics or yarns.

This application is a division of Serial Number 209,762, filed February 7, 1951, and now abandoned.

It is known in the art to pass a continuous web or rope of textile material repeatedly through a dye bath in a so called jigger, the material being wound up on a roller after each passage. This method has the disadvantage of giving a low production and an uneven distribution of the dye-stuff in the material.

It is also known to pass the textile material first through a dye bath. for instance in a padder, and then through an ager, the time for the latter treatment being varied, for instance from a few seconds up to some minutes. Such an ager is very expensive and furthermore the stay in it is too short to achieve equilibrium of dyeing, i. e. the method gives a low wash fastness of the dye. From an economical point of view it is absolutely impossible to dimension the ager such that the time of stay of the material in it could be increased essentially over that which is now usual.

An object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which permits the utilization of a sufliciently long dyeing time to attain a physical and/ or chemical dye equilibrium at a temperature suitable for dyeing and to thereby obtain the best fastness of the dyed material.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus making possible a uniform distribution of the dyes at small losses of dye-stuff.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus which is economical to manufacture, simple to service, and in which costs of operation are low per unit of material produced.

The apparatus according to the invention will be further described hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings which show a preferred embodiment.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 shows a diagrammatic view of the apparatus in vertical section along line ll of Figure 3;

Fig. 2 shows a diagrammatic view of a padder through which the web of material is passed before entering the apparatus in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 shows a diagrammatic view of the apparatus in section along line Illlll in Fig. 1.

As seen in Figs. 1 and 3 the apparatus comprises a chamber 4 having double walls forming a continuous air space around the chamber. One side of the chamber has a door 5 of two sheets arranged such that said air space will be continuous also between them. At one of its lower edges the chamber is provided with a horizontal opening 6 of small height but of a length sufficient to let a cloth of normal width pass through it. The web of textile material 7 is adapted to be guided over rollers 8 and 9 through. this opening 6 and then from the roller 9 vertically upwards to the roller 10. From the latter the web continues in horizontal direction through the upper part of the chamber and further downwards over the rollers 11 and 12. From the roller 12 the web of ma terial is led to a cylinder 13 and fixed to it. The shaft 13!! of this cylinder .13 is iournaled in a frame 14 provided with wheels 15 which are adapted to roll along rails 16.

The cylinder 13 is rotatable to wind up the textile material and for the purpose of rotation one of the ends 2,695,998 Patented Dec. 7, 1954 of the shaft 13a is provided with a coupling member 17 adapted to engage a corresponding coupling member 18 fixed to the end of a shaft 19 iournaled in two supports 20 and 21 and extending through the wall of the chamber. The shaft 19 is driven by a motor 22 through a belt transmission 23.

On both sides of the vertical portion of the web 7 of material between the rollers 9 and 10 a plurality of infra-red lamps 24 are mounted on vertical plates 25. In the same way a plurality of infra-red lamps 26 are mounted on a horizontal plate 27 above the horizontal portion of the web of material between the rollers 10 and 11. A thermostat 28 is mounted on the outside of the chamber and its heat sensitive member 29 is inserted through the wall of the chamber.

For heating the chamber a fan or blower 30 circulates air from the air space between the double walls of the chamber through a box 31 provided with electric heating elements 32 and then back into the air space. The thermostat 28 is provided to control the temperature within the chamber and for this purpose it cooperates with the heating elements 32 in the box 31 by means of a relay (not shown) electrically connected with thermostat 28 by a conductor 28a.

The apparatus described above functions in the following manner. From a stack 33 the web of fabric is led over rollers 34. 35 and 36 down into a dye bath 37. After passing the bath the fabric is pressed between two cylinders 38 and 39 so that excess of dyeing liquid is pressed off. Then the web of material continues over the roller 40 and further over the roller 8 into the chambet 4. When the fore-end of the textile material is fixed to the cylinder 13 mounted in the frame 14, said cylinder is caused to rotate to wind up the material.

To avoid stretching of the material wound up on the cylinder it is necessary to vary the angular speed of shaft 19 so that the peripheral speed of the surface of roll 41 of textile material be constant, i. e. said peripheral speed should not exceed the speed of the web 7 through the padder rolls 38, 39. This may be achieved by arranging a differential gearing, not shown, between the motor and the shaft 19.

Before starting the operation the door 5 is closed and the chamber is heated to the desired temperature by circulating and heating the air in the air space between the double walls. When the material enters the chamber 4 it is quickly heated to the desired temperature by means of the lamps 24 and 26. When a desired length of textile material is wound up on the cylinder the inlet opening 6 is closed. For that purpose a flat-bottomed trough 42 surrounding the opening 6 is filled with water so as to form a liquid trap. In this way the chamber will be safely sealed. Besides the liquid in the trap serves the further'purpose of maintaining the desired vapor pressure within the chamber, i. e. the vapor pressure corresponding to the temperature prevailing in the chamber. Thus, as the atmosphere in the chamber will be saturated with vapor no liquid evaporates from the impregnated material on roll 41, whereby the liquid phase in the rolled up material is kept unchanged and an even distribution of the dye throughout the material is ensured.

The roll of material 41 is kept in slow rotation in the chamber 4 for a period of time long enough to assure a desired equilibrium of the dye throughout the textile material. in the meantime the desired temperature is held constant by the thermostat, Maintenance of such a constant temperature is of essential importance for good results.

The time or duration of treatment and the temperature required must be determined in each particular case as they vary with the nature of the dyeing solution and the kind of material to be dyed. No general statements are possible.

During the operation described above no attendance is necessary. When the period of time has elapsed the door 5 is opened and the frame 14 with roll 41 is taken out. The cloth or yarn is unwound from the cylinder and further wet treated and/or dried as desired.

3 Example I 6000' metersof bleached-cotton fabric (plainweave); weighing 150 g. per meter, was dyed according to the method described above; after the padding, the dye liquor/fabnicviratio;1was' 80/00. z-zThe'rdye solution-scone: tainedeslizg. per liter: of Eclipse: 'Brown RandJIS .gfiperov litElF-IDf sodium sulphide. Th5temperature f thebdye 1,.

batlt-iwas "C. Whenr'introduced-z-into' the ::chamber a the tabricwas 'heated iby. the *lamnssto 95 C. andrzthistaz temperature was maintained constant for 18' hoursxs': The -1 material :was' then :removed andz washed' with=water at 40 :Cxin an5open width.wash'er-andtfinally driedn.

Example 2 Example' 3 1000 kg. spun rayon yarn, British No. 30/ 1*, was dyed with direct dyes; after the 1 padding, the dye liquor/ yarn ratio-was /100. The dye solution contained-a5 g.'per 13- liter "chlorantine. Pasta-Yellow RL Band. 1 g. per 'literir. Albatex -PO.'--'The; temperature t of the--dye bath was '4 30 C5 When introduced-into the chamber the yarn was heatedmto. C.- and this =temperature was maintained-0g constant for "10 hours.- Then the vyarnwas removed-and 5 dried.

Various features @believed to be newsare set forth in the following' claims; however; the term textile n1a----v terialluas used herein ShOIllCl'zlIlOlLxbB limited. in meanin n to a-pliablefabricrwhich is woven;'felted.or knitted frorrrrany filamentbutis to be considered :asincluding filaments or yarn from-which a fabric can-be madew We-claimr;

1. Apparatus .for treating textile material impregnated with dye solution, comprising a closed chamber having a narrow opening for introducing the materialto be treated,..

means for closing said opening after the material has been introduced, a rotary cylinder within the chamber upon which the material is to be wound, means for guiding the material through anextended path from said opening to said cylinder, means for rotating the cylinder,

infra-red radiant 'heating" means -arranged. within the chamber at the sides of thepath of "the material to be introduced and adapted for heating the material as it is woundno'n theacylindenelements for heating the chamher and means .for' controllingxsaid; heating elements to maintain a constant"temperature .withini'the chamber;

2. In an apparatus for fixing a dye in a textile material impregnated with dye solution, the combinationcomprising a'closed'chamber, having top, bottom and side walls; a narrow elongated opening in and proximate to the bottom'of a side wall of said chamber .means-v for closing said opening, a cylinder within the chamber; means for rotating said cylinder, guide meansaadapted and constructed to guide a web of the impregnated material through said.narrow. .opening, upwardly'in the chamber" alongside the side.wa1l.containing said.open-ing,.laterally away from saidside'walltand .thento said cylindei sradiant' heating means located adjacentuandparallel; to the-up wardly extendingreach andv the laterally: extending reach t of saidr-webwof vmaterial for. heating :suchnweb, otherm heatingmeans for heating the top, .bottom and-side walls of the. chamber, and .means :responsive to temperature. changesfor controlling .the .operationof said other heating. 1

means.

References .Citeflhin the file of this. patent UNITED STATES PATENTS? Number Name. Date 565,927.. Rusden .Aug..18, 1896 685,949 Seither Nov. .5, .1901 946,916 Gessnert .Ian.. 18, 1910 1,209,465 Matter a Dec.; 19, 1916 1,758,23'41 Mijer. Mayll-3, 1930 1,902,575 Nichols ,Mar. :21, 1933 2,308,239.... Bell Jan.f12,. 1943 2,519,728 Alexander .Aug..-22, 1950- 

